


Winter Wedding

by Jynova



Category: Kuroko no Basuke | Kuroko's Basketball
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Body Trauma, ESPNEditor!Aomine, Emotional/Mental Pain, F/M, Fireman!Kagami, M/M, because I'm not always a monster
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-06
Updated: 2017-03-06
Packaged: 2018-09-28 16:25:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,262
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10136858
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jynova/pseuds/Jynova
Summary: Tragedy can sometimes spur one to action. But one can only hope it isn't too late.





	

 

 

There are those past days which still vividly resound in ones mind. A memory made from every little detail, no matter how insignificant, no matter how painful. A stalwart reminder that without trauma to the brain, disease, divine intervention, or death, those memories will remain. And on the bad days when it repeats over and over, unwilling to be repressed, Kagami Taiga actually prays for divine intervention and cries as he begs for any of the other gruesome options to erase it from his mind.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

It is a beautiful spring day. Of course it is, no one would plan their most special day inviting mother nature to rain, snow, or swelter on it.

 

Except maybe Kagami Taiga, who had always hoped for his wedding to take place in the winter, surrounded by snow and white. Pure, untarnished, covering up the ugly and bad to be later melted to unearth beauty, greenery and color and happiness. That’s how he’d want to always remember the day he got married.

 

But this isn’t his day. Yet, he’s still part of it, reluctant on the inside, feigned enthusiasm on the out. And as soon as it’s over, he hopes to go home and drink the memory away. Little does he know, every little occurrence today will be the source of endless future agony.

 

He’s done well forgetting the day the love of his life rejected his confession, relegating all of what Kagami had thought of as their precious moments to simply a ‘phase’ and ‘curiosity’ and ‘experimentation.’ Kagami’s done well repressing the memory of the day his now clandestine love had casually ended their casual hooking up. Because it was casual. Well, for one of them, anyways. Kagami had even done ok at distracting himself from remembering the day he’d been introduced to the new girlfriend. It’d been much harder to forget the day Taiga had been included in their dinner party announcement of the engagement and upcoming wedding. Taiga hadn’t yet gotten the hang of keeping the memory of Aomine cornering him alone on the balcony later that night and asking him to be his best man. But Kagami was still working on a way for all these memories to not hurt him so much. Or to just stop them from recurring so often. 

 

And as soon as he did that, this day would be the FIRST one he would tear up and throw to the wind.

 

He didn’t expect it to take up a permanent and painful residence in his mind.

 

If he had known, he would have closed his eyes when he walked into the dressing room where Aomine was getting ready. Because the man looked breathtaking in his tux, with that serene, blissful look on his face.

 

Kagami remembers telling Aomine to wipe that tranquility of his face and to start freaking out a little so he could at least feel useful as a best man by calming him down. He hated how his mind actually flashed a shred of doubt at whether he would have cooled Aomine down rather than stirring up the doubt and taking advantage of it for his own benefit.

 

But Kagami was a resolute Angel. Everyone knew it. What’s worse? Kagami knew it. So he refrained from any tinkering and just went through the motions like a robot. Funny how he hadn’t really even been mentally present for most of the day, yet his stupid senses had still somehow picked everything up enough to actualize a magnificent remembrance of the day in his minds eye.

 

He imagines the purple lilacs juxtaposing against the white and gold. He remembers wondering what the fuck the point of having an indoor wedding was in spring. Inviting mother nature into the equation and then ignoring her entirely. What a waste.

 

Taiga was never so glad to be behind Aomine as he said his vows of devotion and commitment for life to another person. He wonders if he was facing the bluenette, if Daiki would have been distracted by Kagami’s vacant eyes. The redhead had no other way than to recede into a place of silence in order to keep the glistening of tears away. No matter how much Aomine’s wife was devoted and focused on her hubby, no way would she not have noticed an over 6 foot best man, crying his eyes out. Although, Taiga did wonder whether she noticed his briefly cyanotic skin from unconsciously not breathing for a bit. He was glad people’s clapping had covered up the huge breath his body had forced him to take.

 

Strange for an unconscious bodily function to un(sub?)consciously stop. Wherever Taiga was during that interaction where they said “I do,” though, he’s just glad none of his five senses were primed enough to catch any of it. A bleak silver lining, if you ask him.

 

Because he remembers everything else sooo well, too well for not being the one getting married. But then, Kagami wonders if it’s because out of everyone there, bride and groom included, his emotions were strongest. He often thinks his pain and hurt must rival if not surpass the individual and maybe even combined love of the married couple.

 

Kagami knows that that’s true. He knows it because he has a reference frame. He lost his dad a few years ago, and the day Aomine got married, that sense of loss still contends for the number one spot. He knows pain of all types. Kagami Taiga is a firefighter and has endured burns and cuts and broken limbs but he would gladly take those every day of his life if they would somehow suppress the emotional hurt, the sweat-drenched nights filled with white, gold, lilac and breathtaking blue.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Taiga’s trying something new now. He’s throwing himself into work. Becoming a busy body. Hey, it’s better than drugs. Because he wouldn’t have enough money to keep a drug habit for very long, otherwise that might have been a viable option. And at least this way, it’s productive enough that his friends can’t bitch and moan at him. Not that the ever increasing usage of ‘workaholic’ isn’t getting annoying. 

 

Taiga just wishes he had something to distract during the nights, from the nightmares and flood of memories. He wishes there wasn’t a quota on how many shifts one can work. He wishes there was a limit on how concerned people can get. Leave him be. He’s not hurting anyone, but himself… and that’s his right. And it’s not even intentional. Intentions matter.

 

So when the call comes in in the middle of the night amidst of one of Taiga’s fitful attempts at sleep, he eagerly answers it. The redhead throws on his uniform and work boots with an alacrity that shouldn’t exist at that time of night and with that amount of latent fatigue. 

 

He pushes through it all though, through the memories, through work, through life, through the dormant fatigue. The energy drink he picks up helps with that last one. But he needs it. The fire’s huge and spreading like wildfire, because it is a wildfire. And it’s encroaching quickly upon a little town. Taiga empathizes, knowing how painful it is to be living peacefully, happily one day and then be suddenly uprooted into uncertainty in the worst way possible, without hope of salvaging your former sanctuary as it goes up in flames.

 

Taiga wouldn’t wish that pain on anyone. It’s why he rushes around the town like a madman (or madfireman), saving countless people, evacuating, putting out errant fires, even going as far as to risk his life for a few family animals.

 

But animals don’t compare to humans, especially not kids. So when Taiga hears the kids screaming in the litup orphanage, he doesn’t wait for back-up, quickly assessing the already devastating state of deterioration in front of him. He runs in, clears rooms while screaming for kids to announce themselves if they can and when he finds a group of three huddled in the corner who are semi-conscious, as he’s carrying all three out at once, he asks them for information on whether any more are in there. He knows he’ll go back in no matter what they answer, but maybe they can enlighten him to where he should run to first. They say they think there’s one kid left, in the very last room. Taiga goes there first and on his way out, he clears the other rooms. No one else. Good. Taiga can see the front door, it’s in his line of sight and he starts cautiously making his way there. Maybe he should have run. Maybe he should have done a lot of things in life. New things, things differently, never have engaged in others. He thinks this as he hurls the kid through the door as the building crumbles down on him. The kids got bad smoke inhalation and a few minor burns here and there but his breathing wasn’t too weak and with the trauma of being thrown, he may sustain a few broken bones at the least, but he’ll live. 

 

Taiga wonders if time has slowed down in the instant before his death because he has time to assess the boy’s state as he watches the kid land safely away from the inferno. But that’s surprisingly not his last thought. No, his last thought is that he won’t have to recall those memories anymore, the pain’s ending and with that, a wave of relief calms his being. Thank God.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

~Do you remember when you first beat me? You lit a fire in me, you were always there for me. I’m sorry. 

 

~Do you remember when we first ate at Maji burger? 27 burgers was astonishing. I still can’t get over the face you made. 

 

~Do you remember the first time we went to Karaoke? How drunk we both got and sang those sexual songs at each other? God we were sexually frustrated. I couldn’t get over how good of a singer you were. 

 

~Do you remember the first time we had sex? We were so drunk. It was raw, primal. I wasn’t as drunk as I pretended to be. 

 

~Do you remember how we used to drink just so we would have an excuse to have sex? God we were stupid.

 

~Do you remember the first time we had sex sober? It felt more like making love to me. 

 

~Do you remember that confession on the basketball court? So corny. I love you. 

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Taiga has no sense of time where he is. Is this the afterlife? It’s dark and he has fleeting thoughts that are prompted by something. Something external to where he is, to what he is. It’s disturbing that he can’t figure out what’s going on. Maybe this is a test to get out of this purgatory. If it is, he should try. After all, he’s long due for some eternal peace.

 

So Taiga tries. He heeds the little snippets of instructions he hears out of thin air once in a while. And finally, when a familiar voice tells him to wake up, he opens his eyes to a misleading bright, blinding light. 

 

Because it’s not the pearly gates he’s expecting. No, it’s even worse than the eternal fire and brimstone of hell. He opens his eyes to a hospital bed. To reality. To a tube being pulled out of his nose and throat and another one on his nose.

 

And it gets even worse… Because the first person he sees is the object of his worst fears and all Taiga can think is ‘No no no no NO! WHY? When do I GET MY PEACE!’ and in that moment Taiga resolves to end his life as soon as he can. 

 

But he doesn’t get very far in that thought before everything, absolutely EVERYTHING is washed away.

 

By a pair of lips.

 

Familiar.

 

Warm.

 

Desperate.

 

Lips against his own.

 

What?! WHAT??? Is he in heaven after all? No, the pain on his left shoulder indicates terrestrial of some kind. Another dimension?

 

Those lips are becoming more insistent, slipping against his own with spit and tears. Neither are his.

 

When Aomine finally breaks free to breath, Taiga takes the opportunity to right himself. Blue eyes are watching in awe at every move he’s making. Kagami hates that the serenity afforded to him by those lips is now ebbing, with confusion and fear and emotional pain making themselves dominant again.

 

Before he can inquire though, Aomine Daiki’s already grabbing his hand, tangling fingers together. Taiga looks down at it and the first thing he notices is the bare ring finger on Daiki’s left hand.

 

“We’re divorced.”

 

Has Aomine become telepathic? Is that part of this new dimension he’s in?

 

“Stop looking so bewildered. I told you about it. Didn’t you hear me? Those quack doctors told me comatose patients can hear. Or well, they said the hearing’s usually the last thing to go and look at you, strong and burly, cute and sexy.”

 

Taiga’s eyes widen from bewilderment to… well, skeptical bewilderment. And confusion. LOTS OF CONFUSION.

 

“I missed you. You’ve been in a coma for… like, six months now. Taiga. I missed you. So. Much.” Daiki’s voice is cracking as his tears are streaming down his face again. Wait, no, they have been this entire time.

 

Taiga shakes his head, trying to clear it.

 

“Ah. Damn it, Taiga, you’re not in a coma anymore, say something!”

 

Taiga figures he should try, if only to make sure he still has vocal capabilities.

 

And the only thing he can think of is. “You talked to me?”

 

Daiki smiles. It happens so naturally, so involuntarily that Taiga wonders if it was really something he said to have caused that. He combs over his last sentence.

 

“Every day. Read you stuff sometimes, books, magazines, horrible articles submitted by the new interns at work. Mostly though, I just talked about our memories together. And apologized a lot. And I threw in details about my failing marriage and well… how much I love you. I told you that a lot. Feels kind of weird, having to repeat it all… it’s a bit different and more intimidating and scary…saying it to a conscious you.”

 

Taiga thinks back, trying to recall his comatose state. He does know that he relived a lot of memories of him and Daiki. Most of them prompted by something external… a voice? A familiar voice that Taiga had mistaken as his own ramblings. Oh. Daiki’s voice. He tries to go over the few he can remember.

 

~Do you remember when you first beat me? You lit a fire in me, you were always there for me. I’m sorry… *…I let you go. I’ll never do it again, so come back to me.

 

~Do you remember when we first ate at Maji burger? 27 burgers was astonishing. I still can’t get over the face you made. *Like a squirrel, stuffing his cheeks.

 

~Do you remember the first time we went to Karaoke? How drunk we both got and sang those sexual songs to each other? God we were sexually frustrated. I couldn’t get over how good of a singer you were… *…Are. I want to hear you sing again, sing for me again, Taiga, please.

 

~Do you remember the first time we had sex? We were so drunk. It was raw, primal. I wasn’t as drunk as I pretended to be. *I still get off to the memory of it.

 

~Do you remember how we used to drink just so we would have an excuse to have sex? God we were stupid. *Hey. I love you, so wake up for me.

 

~Do you remember the first time we had sex sober? It felt more like making love to me. *When I was married, it was the only memory my mind absolutely wouldn’t recall when I would touch myself or even while having sex with her. Because I knew I would start crying if I did.

 

~Do you remember that confession on the basketball court? So corny. I love you… *…Too. I’m so sorry I didn’t say it back. I’ll say it now, everyday. So wake up. Even if you don’t, I’ll still say it.

 

Oh wow. Did Taiga’s muddled mind just leave out those important parts? Maybe it was too painful for him to think of something that he couldn’t verify as a certainty. Oh well, if Taiga’s learned anything over his life, it’s that he has little control over his own mind.

 

“You did talk to me…” Taiga whispers under his breath more to himself as he tries to recall as much as he can. And he comes up with one phrase, spoken in that voice, time and time again.

 

“You… love me? You’re not married anymore?” Taiga’s face had gone from bewildered to awestruck. Something warm seeping through him that he immediately shunned. Fear and doubt conditioned response, probably.

 

“Yeah. I uhm… She got all upset at me spending every day here with you. But I didn’t want to be anywhere else, I couldn’t be anywhere else. When ESPN threatened to fire me, it all came to a head. I knew it was an empty threat but she took it seriously. I told her I was in love with you and I wasn’t going anywhere. We uh, didn’t last long after that.”

 

Taiga looked down at their still intertwined hands.

 

“You were here the whole time? All six months?”

 

“Yeah, well, it took the staff about three months of my omnipresent ass for the nurses to finally allow me to stay past visiting hours. But not only me. Tetsu, Alex, Himuro, your mom, coworkers, the miracles, even Akashi’s visited.”

 

“You’ve literally been here every HOUR you can?”

 

“I’m sorry Taiga. I’ll never leave you again. So… so, please, even if you don’t accept my love, just, d…don’t leave me again.”

 

And Daiki’s still wet face was starting to twist something in Taiga. So he squeezes the hand in his and notices those glistening blue eyes clearing a bit. Good. Maybe he can do more.

 

“Shh. Stop crying, Daiki.”

 

Using Aomine’s first name in an affectionate tone seems to help.

 

But there are still errant tears.

 

So Taiga seizes his last resort.

 

He surges forward and presses his lips onto Aomine’s. 

 

Over and over again as he whispers stuttered versions of “I love you, love you too, never stopped” and other reassuring sweet nothings, promises of how he’ll try his best to stay safe, to the broken man in his arms. And Taiga doesn’t even find it strange that after all the pain he’s felt, he’s still trying to console Aomine. That’s never and will never change. What he does find strange is the foreign feeling of a little pebble of warmth that’s forming in his heart. He welcomes it. 

 

It takes Daiki’s persistent and very passionate gestures of commitment, endearment, and devotion for Taiga to finally nurture that pebble to grow into an all-encompassing love, happiness, and contentment coursing through the redheads entire being. Body, soul, and finally… his mind. That distant memory still creeps up from time to time, but Taiga finds that the soothing heat pressed up against him or the multiple daily verbal and tactile love confessions, eases it away. 

Oh and another thing that keeps the pain away? Fiddling with that lil gold ring on his finger.

Because, Taiga’s got his own memory of a beautiful winter wedding that’s far more prevalent in his mind.

 

~END END END END END END~

 

 

 

 

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> Ahhhh~ I wanted to write angst but with a happy ending. This isn't EVEN THE FIC. I WANTED TO WRITE UGH! I have to stop writing these side fics. when the ones I want to write are so prolific in my mind. Maybe that's why I won't start them because I've imagined them SO thoroughly that I KNOW they're gonna be monster fics. and the time/energy dedication is intimidating and... hard. Ah welllll. Gotta starts somewhere, right?! Here's hoping my passion doesn't ebb on chap. 18 of a 25 chapter fic. b/c ISN'T THAT JUST THE WORST! Especially the ones that end RIGHT BEFORE they get together! FUCK just ONE MORE CHAPTER and quit AFTER they've gotten together! HRMPH! Wait... where was I going with this?! Ah. that's right. to bed. goodnight.


End file.
